Best Way To Build A Synced Network In The Office?

StairJunkie

Looking to build a computer network for the office so that accounting, sales, management all have synced access to a variety of stuff such as contacts, calendars, spreadsheets, and other files.

I've researched many ways to do this. Would like some feedback as to what the rest of you are doing to achieve this.

Are you guys using windows server, linux server, online apps (google)?

The goal is syncing and allowing everyone to have access to the same updated information so when one user updates contact info for example, it's updated for everyone. When management adjusts some data in spreadsheets, all users will now use the updated spreadsheets, etc.

Thanks!

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rbsremodeling

Windows Sharepoint site and outlook. It came as part as my comcast business internet package.

In one word wow

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Cole

Windows Server!!!!

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SLSTech

Windows Server - look into the small business version & if you grow past 75 users (?), you can pop up to the full versions. Best servers out there are HP utilizing Raid 5 - don't forget about backups either

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crazyboy

Windows server, or even a desktop will suffice. Setup shares for the files and programs etc, and use offline files. Depending how many people you need to be able to use it you might want to give everyone their own user name, and that gets a tad more difficult.

StairJunkie

Are you guys referring to Windows server 2003, or Windows small business server 2008? Small business server looks a bit new http://www.microsoft.com/sbs/en/us/default.aspx

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SLSTech

I haven't played with the 2008 version, try their trial version on a high end PC to see if you like it. If you decide to buy it - look into a prepackaged deal from HP or whomever you choose.

The biggest catch is making sure all your employees save the files up to the server, not on their desktop or laptop. Make sure you also set your security up properly - you don't want certain data being made available to everyone (like pay rates, profit & loss, etc...)

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msteinhoff

I've used Microsoft Small Business Server 2003, I've rolled my own Linux solution and I've used GoogleApps.

• By asking the question, you can rule out Linux. While I'm a huge fan of open source and there are many very polished tools available, if you're not a unix admin or if you don't have access to one, you should pass.
• If you're not looking to become a part-time systems administrator, think twice before adding Windows SBS. To do it right requires a fair amount of forethought, follow-through and ongoing maintenance.
• GoogleApps is a solid, reliable product but doesn't have all the features that the above solutions provide. If you are happy with the GoogleApps features set, that would be my recommendation, especially if you need to access your information from anywhere.

Most IT consulting firms will sit down with you for a couple hours at no cost, learn your needs and prepare a report. Even if you don't hire them to do the project, you'll have a better idea of what is involved and a much better idea as to what you really need.

Cheers,
Matt

SelfContract

Wireless router, wireless printer, wireless laptop, wireless server, wireless firewall/security, etc. No tangle cords, no wall hole drills, portable & mobile environment.

Sarah9910

Construction Management Software packages do this, all in one now, with calendars, tasks, RFI, RFP's daily field reports, job costing and estimating, links (or embedded files) to excel with the file accessed from within the program and more. Users can log on remotely. What kind of budget are you talking? I just commented on another thread about estimating sofware and the guy was wanting something for under $100.00. Where are you now and what are you really able to do in this economy? Do you have an office server and a citrix server? Or are you a one man shop who wants subs to log on? Are you using QB? What's your current situation?

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StairJunkie

If we could start small with room to expand that'd be great. Right now there's only two people who have computers, me and the office manager who does acct, scheduling, maintains contacts. I manage company operations with my macbook pro, we share an internet connection, that's it. There's a sales staff who does stuff by hand at the moment and in the shop it's all paper copies of documents and hand written cut lists.

For the office area i'd like for us to atleast each have our own calendar and be able to view other people's calendars so we know what they're up to and can plan ahead. I'd like a library of contacts that we can all contribute to, no more asking the guy next door "do you have this guy's number?" and then of course the appropriate users have access to various spreadsheets and files.

So we'd need some additional hardware and software. I know the budget must be reasonable, a few K I predict but always looking for value.

Thanks for suggestions thus far.

Are there any national/regional consulting firm names that I should be aware of?

Oh and time frame... not happening immediately, gonna take a few months to budget, save for, and plan.

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msteinhoff

Your shop is the ideal candidate for GoogleApps. Your needs are basic, GoogleApps is a huge step up from where you are now and it is platform independent so it will work well from both your PC and Mac. It is also darn near free for as few users as you have.

If you end up looking at a hosted Citrix solution (overkill for your office), my brother's company does that sort of thing. Email me and I'll send you his contact information. (Or, just google 'citrix consulting'. His company is the third result, right below Citrix itself.)

Honestly, try GoogleApps for two or three months while saving your pennies. It is free. If you hate it, you can always go on to something else. If, however, Google meets your needs, you'll have saved a meaningful amount of money and gotten a solution months earlier than you planned. Except for a few hours of setup, you'll have lost nothing.

Cheers,
Matt

StairJunkie

Has there been a recent thread regarding PC hardware requirements, if not I'll start one since this stuff changes so fast!

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StairJunkie

btw, if one uses google appls... i see calendars/scheduling, shared files being covered. what would i do to manage contacts?

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msteinhoff

Gmail has contact management built in. If you're coming from SalesLogix or ACT!, it is pretty weak. If you're using a Rolodex and yelling from desk to desk for phone numbers, it seems very robust.

Cheers,
Matt

MattCoops

You could hire a freelance XML developer to create a database system.
Or, if you want room for expansion, develop a .NET database that you can have everything stored in one central location and be able to access from any computer with secure, username and password.

I created a contact management system for under $20 (used amazon books) and completed within a week working 2-3 hours per night and 10-12 hours on Sunday. The database stores contact information, a list of calls and visits and what occured.
Still working on reminder feature to alert to call for followup meetings.
And I'm working on an estimate system that is synced to the contact database. I can send estimators out and they can "log on" to .NET database to enter estimate and print for customer. Then everything is stored in one secure place and nothing ends up lost or done improperly. Commercial clients can upload blueprints. Interior Designers can log on to view Sketchup models.

Maybe I should post an "under construction" sticky note on our index page. (pokes Cole)

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George Z

A move up from Google Apps is http://www.zoho.com/

We have been using it for a while now,
who needs networking?

Their CRM is amazing and free for 3 users
http://crm.zoho.com/crm/login.sas

We also use the CRM calendar.

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StairJunkie

Nice tip about Zoho, been following their products for awhile and seeing how they compare to google although I've never personally tried them out. But I just came along this article mentioning GE switching from Google apps to Zoho so that speaks volumes to me about how powerful Zoho might actually be. I know GE does not mess around and waste time nor money. http://www.webguild.org/2008/09/ge-d...lects-zoho.php

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SquirrelNmoose

I don't know if this would fit your needs, but this is pretty powerful open source system.
http://www.vtiger.com/

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Vince_B

We at one time had a synced network. We had a network guy set it up.

What we do now fits our needs better. It's only me and the office Goddess(my wife) right now, but this is what we do. We keep my schedule ( the one with the customer info) on Google and it's set up to sync with Outlook.

We have MS Groove installed on the four machines we use (Two PC's at the office, one at home an my laptop). Groove allows you to work with any ms doc on the PC you are working on and syncs with every other PC. You can also work offline and it will automatically sync when you get online. That's a big plus for me on my laptop. You can set up Groove to sync docs any way you want, some docs may or may not sync with different machines.

The accounting software is on one PC that has GoToMyPC on it. So I can access it remotely.

It's not the same as a networked server, but it's way cheaper, takes no time to set up yourself and so far has been pretty bullet proof.

My two cents.